How do people use fentanyl

When prescribed by a physician, fentanyl can be given as a shot, a patch that is put on a person’s skin, or as a lozenge that is sucked like a cough drop.

The illegally used fentanyl most often associated with recent poisonings is made in labs.  This synthetic fentanyl is sold illegally as a powder, liquid, dropped onto blotter paper, put in eye droppers and nasal sprays, or made into pills that look identical to prescription medications.

Some drug dealers will mix illicit fentanyl with other drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and MDMA.  This is because it takes only tiny amounts to produce a “high” with fentanyl, making it a cheaper option to other drugs.  This is especially risky when people are taking drugs and don’t realize that they might contain illicit fentanyl as a cheap but dangerous additive.  With the illicit fentanyl additive the drugs being used may be stronger than the opioids that their bodies are accustomed to which makes them more likely to be poisoned.

How does fentanyl affect the brain?

Like heroin, morphine, and other opioid type drugs, fentanyl works by binding the body’s opioid receptors, which are found in areas of the brain that control emotions and pain.  After taking opioids many times, the brain adapts to the drug diminishing it’s sensitivity making it harder to feel pleasure from anything besides the drug.  When people become addicted, drug seeking and drug use take over their lives.  The effects of fentanyl include:

• extreme happiness
• drowsiness
• nausea/vomiting
• confusion
• constipation
• sedation
• difficulty breathing
• unconsciousness
• death

Fentanyl Poisoning

An drug poisoning occurs when a drug produces serious adverse effects and life-threatening symptoms. When people are poisoned by fentanyl, their breathing can slow or stop. This can decrease the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain, a condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia can lead to a coma and permanent brain damage, and even death.

Fentanyl Use and Addiction

Fentanyl is highly addictive due to it’s potency.  A person taking prescription fentanyl as directed by their physician can experience “dependence” which is not to be confused with addiction.  Dependence is characterized by withdrawal symptoms when the drug is stopped, while dependence is not considered addiction it can occasionally lead to addiction.

Addiction is the most severe form of substance use disorder (SUD).  Addiction is characterized by compulsive drug use and drug seeking that can be difficult if not impossible to control despite the harmful consequences.  When a person is addiction to drug, they will continue to use substances even when they cause health problems or social issues at home, work, school and in relationships with family and peers.  Substance use disorders can be mild to severe.

Individuals who become addicted to fentanyl and suddenly stop using it can have severe withdrawal symptoms that can begin as early as only a few hours after the drug was last taken.  These symptoms include but are not limited to:

• muscle and bone pain
• sleeping disruptions
• vomiting and diarrhea
• chills and goosebumps
• uncontrollable leg movements
• uncontrollable need to move their legs making them unable to sit, lay down or sleep
• severe cravings for the drug

These symptoms can be very uncomfortable and are the main reason that many people find it very difficult to stop taking fentanyl.  There are medications being developed to help with the withdrawal symptoms for fentanyl and opioids.

Facts to Remember

• Fentanyl is a very powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent.  In it’s prescription form it is prescribed for pain, but Fentanyl is also made illegally and distributed as a street drug.
• Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are the most common street drugs involved in drug poisoning deaths.
• Illicit fentanyl is sold in the following forms:  powder, liquid, dropped on blotter paper, in eye droppers and nasal sprays or made into pills that look identical to prescription medications.
• Illicit fentanyl is being mixed with other drugs such as synthetic marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and MDMA.  This is extremely dangerous because users may not be aware that fentanyl has been added to the substances they are consuming.
• The high potency of fentanyl greatly increases the risk of addiction and drug poisoning, especially when the recipient is unaware of it’s presence.  The flour-like consistency of illicit fentanyl and it’s deadly qualities in microscopic amounts makes it extremely difficult to evenly distribute and users are most often unable to judge the amount that they are taking, resulting in lethal poisoning and death.
• Counterfeit prescription pills look identical to prescription pills.  The quality of these pills has risen to a level that even experts have a difficult time identifying them without chemical testing.  The safest action for consumers is to remember that one pill can kill, do not take any medication that is not prescribed to you by a physician and handed to you by a licensed pharmacist.
• Despite their advertisements, current Fentanyl test strips have not been proven as reliable or safe methods to detect the presence of illicit fentanyl.